Snow and blizzards move into US east coast as 85 dead from last week’s storm
Dozens of people have died in the teeth of a severe winter storm across the US south, with further freezing temperatures, snow and blizzards set to assail the east coast on Saturday.At least 85 people have died across multiple states, according to an Associated Press tally, with frigid conditions and icy roads causing car crashes, hypothermia and other fatal incidents.The severe cold blast follows a severe snowstorm that blanketed much of the US the previous weekend, with further snowfall and freezing temperatures now set to hit the east coast. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have declared states of emergency.“As another round of winter weather moves into North Carolina, this time possibly bringing snow, I urge everyone to stay alert and take precautions,” the state’s governor, Josh Stein, said.At least 10 people have been found dead outside in the cold in New York City. There are also 13 confirmed deaths in Tennessee and nine fatalities in Louisiana.A cold blast of air that has come down from the Arctic has officials bracing for further dangerous conditions. Rising global temperatures may, counterintuitively, be weakening the polar vortex winds that hold such cold air over the Arctic, causing it to spill out further south.In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – whose official seal is the sun, palm trees and a seagull – 6in (15cm) of snow was expected. The city has no snow-removal equipment, and authorities planned to “use what we can find”, the mayor, Mark Kruea, said.The extreme weather has even forced the cancellation of Saturday’s Myrtle Beach Polar Plunge, an event in which participants swim in the chilly Atlantic to raise money for charity. “We strongly encourage everyone to stay home, stay warm, and stay safe while this storm moves through our area,” the event’s Facebook page advises.Subfreezing weather was forecast into February, with heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and north-east Georgia over the weekend including up to a foot (30cm) in parts of North Carolina. Snow was also said to be possible from Maryland to Maine.On Saturday night and early Sunday, forecasters said, wind and snow could lead to blizzard conditions before the storm moves out to sea. The frigid cold was expected to plunge as far south as Florida.Temperatures neared the teens (-10C) in Nashville, Tennessee, and frustrations bubbled up for those who spent a week without power.Terry Miles, a 59-year-old construction worker whose home has had no electricity since a previous storm struck on Sunday, resorted to using a fish fryer for heat and worried about the danger of carbon monoxide.“I’m taking a chance of killing myself and killing my wife, because – why?” Miles said after attending a Nashville Electric Service (NES) news conference intended to showcase the utility’s repairs on poles and lines. He then pointed to officials.More than 190,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, mostly in Mississippi and Tennessee, as of Saturday morning, according to the outage-tracking website poweroutage.us. That included more than 54,000 in and around Nashville.Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, said he shared “strong concerns” with NES leadership, adding that residents “need a clear timeline for power restoration, transparency on the number of linemen deployed, and a better understanding of when work will be completed in their neighborhood”.The utility has defended its response, saying the storm that struck last weekend was unprecedented.Mississippi officials said the massive winter storm was its worst since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened, and national guard troops delivered supplies by truck and helicopter.Experts warned of the growing risks of hypothermia. Frostbite was also a concern in the south, where some people may lack sufficiently warm clothing, said Dr David Nestler, an emergency medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.The reported deaths have occurred from Texas to New Jersey, roughly half of them in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. While some deaths have been attributed to hypothermia, others are suspected to be related to carbon monoxide exposure. Officials have not released specific details about some deaths.In North Carolina, hundreds of national guard soldiers readied to help and state workers worked to prepare roads.The city of Wake Forest saw a steady stream of people filling propane tanks on Friday at Holding Oil and Gas, including José Rosa, who arrived after striking out at three other places.“I’m here in this cold weather, and I don’t like it,” Rosa said as he held a 20lb (9kg) tank.In Dare county, home to much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, residents worried that unoccupied houses in communities like Rodanthe and Buxton could collapse into the Atlantic Ocean.The Associated Press contributed reporting
